Riflessione

At the end of every year, I like to take time to reflect on the experiences, lessons, and opportunities that arose during the course of the last 365 days. My thoughts on 2008:

* God always takes care of me. I could never even remotely understand why God takes such good care of me, in spite of my transgressions and mess ups. But I am grateful that He does. This year He has certainly had His hand over my life, and I pray that He will continue to take care of me, even though I usually do everything possible to not take care of myself. God is good and He answers prayer.

* No matter how badly you might want to make something work, sometimes things just aren’t meant to be. It usually starts with a quiet whisper, warning you to proceed with caution, and ends up a giant slap in the face that reveals what you’ve known, deep down, all along. All the “want to” in the world can’t make something right when it’s wrong.

* I’ve got to do a better job of listening to that quiet whisper. Intuition is powerful, and I need to trust myself more than I have in the past.

* I need to take better care of my body. It’s the only one I’ve got, and it’s beginning to rebel against my obsessions with Little Caesar’s Hot N Ready pizzas in visually obvious ways. I want to try to cook more this year, too. Hopefully it will save me some money and some extra lbs.

* Life is crazy, but it is, at its heart, good. One of the last lines of “Desiderata” by Max Ehrman sums it up: “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” I’m going to try to see the good in the everyday. I’m going to try to see the good in people.

And finally, 2008 wouldn’t be complete without one last quote...

“Ring out the old, ring in the new. Ring, happy bells, across the snow. The year is going, let him go. Ring out the false, ring in the new.” Alfred Tennyson

Absolutely Useless.

The following link will take you to a list of 500 completely useless facts. Well, I guess you could use them as conversations starters. I dedicate this list to my Dad, the keeper of all useless knowledge.

http://www.djtech.net/humor/useless_facts.htm

Chrrrrrrrrrrristmas!

I heart Christmas. I can't believe that it will be here in a mere three days. Time has truly flown.

Here's to wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season, and all possible prosperity in the New Year!

Sad.

I just read a post on the Arkansas Times blog (can be found here: http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2008/12/child_welfare_crisis.aspx) about a recently published report from the Arkansas Advocates for Children's and Families detailing the tragic circumstances that many our state's children have been subjected to.

It's accounts like these that make me very sad that Proposed Initiative Act No. 1, which would allow homosexual couples and cohabitating couples to foster children, passed in our state.

I am a Christian and a follower of Jesus Christ. I believe the Bible. And I also believe that a vote against Proposed Initiative Act No. 1 isn't a vote that condones homosexuality. I don't think that a vote against the Act is a vote "for" homosexuality. It is a vote for children. I think that homosexual and cohabitating couples are just as capable as loving and caring for a child as married couples. Just because a couple is married doesn't mean that they can provide a stable and safe home for a child.

These are my opinions, my beliefs, and you don't have to share them. I just felt the need to express my viewpoint on this issue because I feel that the children in the care of the state of Arkansas deserve that.

Vulnerable

"Love comes when manipulation stops; when you think more about the other person than about his or her reactions to you. When you dare to reveal yourself fully. When you dare to be vulnerable."
Dr. Joyce Brothers

Yes, I am addicted to quotes. Especially good ones.

Being vulnerable is scary. It's hard to "put yourself out there" and to open yourself up to possible heartache, ridicule, or other negative side effects of being vulnerable. It becomes even more difficult when you've been burned in the past.

But I do think it's worth it.

Needed This

"Remove those 'I want you to like me' stickers from your forehead and, instead, place them where they truly will do the most good - on your mirror!"
Susan Jeffers

Definitely needed to read that quote.

Ms. Bettie Mae Page

"I was not trying to be shocking, or to be a pioneer. I wasn't trying to change society, or to be ahead of my time. I didn't think of myself as liberated, and I don't believe that I did anything important. I was just myself. I didn't know any other way to be, or any other way to live."

Rest in peace Ms. Page.